Vices and Virtues
by mugglebornpride
Summary: The many vices and virtues of James and Lily. Drabbles.
1. Tobacco Grins

She was smoking. Again. There was something very elegant about the way Lily Evans smoked. Her slender fingers held the cigarette like it was a mere afterthought. Her lips, alluring as ever, would pucker ever so slightly as she exhaled and the smoke would twist in the most exquisite patterns.

She was sitting on the windowsill of the divination classroom, her legs dangling out in the nothingness. Lily didn't even take divination. James had discovered that she loved the place after seeing her dot on the map and being thoroughly confused. When he'd asked her, all she'd said was, "It's high up and I'm not supposed to be there." Every time Lily revealed that side of her, James was overwhelmed by the feeling of perfection. That the Lily who was Head girl, who enforced the rules, who took notes in Binn's goddamn class could exist in perfect cohesion with the Lily who sweet talked her way out of detention, who snogged him in clandestine places, who broke as many rules as she enforced was an idea that seemed beyond him in the beginning but as time passed and he came to see Lily Evans not as The Lily Evans but rather as Lily, it seemed obvious. She had her virtues and she had her vices and every day, they battled for dominance in her.

It was almost five in the morning and the sun was just peeping over the horizon. The grounds were all still foggy and smudged with the cold night's mist. And Lily sat watching calmly, like she'd orchestrated the whole thing. She was wearing her Hogwarts robes for some unfathomable reason and she was playing idly with her lighter, flicking it on and off, on and off. Her hair was piled on top of her in a neat bun and since James could only see her silhouette, it seemed like she was balancing a tiny little pot on top of her head. James rapped softly on the wooden frame of the window as he came up behind her. She craned her neck to look at him and she seemed to him like an elegant painting from the Renaissance. Her eyes were hooded, her green irises dark and mysterious. Her smile was slow and sensual, teasing and serious at the same time. The cold had made her skin pale and her freckles stand out. God, she was breath taking.

James grinned widely at her and Lily's composure broke. She was no longer a picture of elegance. She was now a picture of childish glee. Her seductive smile grew into a wide grin that showed all her teeth, even the crooked incisor she hated. Her eyes crinkled and sparkled and she bit her lips to stop herself from grinning too wide. He saw that the strands of hair that were too short for the bun were framing her face and swaying lazily along with the breeze. James loved that he could do this to her. He loved that he could break her composure, her mask. He loved that he could her get her to let her guard down like that and smile so wide. He loved that she didn't care about the crooked incisor with him. He loved that she didn't care about her messy hair with him. He loved her.

James reached forward and plucked the cigarette out of her hand, stubbing it out on the sill beside her. She cocked her eyebrow, more in amusement than anything else. James bent down and kissed her soundly, holding her cheek in his hand as she leaned towards his touch. He pulled back and she reached for him, leaning towards him and catching his lips in hers eagerly. He nipped a little at her lips and felt, rather than heard, her gasp a little. When James pulled back, she was breathless and dazed. He loved that he could do this to her more, he decided.


	2. Puddles

It had rained all morning and all afternoon and all evening. It finally petered to a slow drizzle by the time James sat down for dinner and by the time he was done, the rain had stopped entirely, leaving behind a mist so thick it looked like the clouds had descended. James wanted nothing more than to go to bed and never, ever wake up again. Head duties and Quidditch finals and the impending N.E. were driving him to despair. The weather wasn't helping.

"Come on, then." Lily said as she took his hand and got up. James got to his feet too and they started walking towards the stairs. But Lily changed course, heading towards the Entrance Halls and the doors beyond.

"Where are we going?" James asked but she shushed him impatiently. She guided him imperiously towards the doors and slipped out, dragging him along. The cold hit him like smack in the face and his shoes squelched in the wet mud of the grounds. "Lily." James whispered. "If we get caught…" he started but she cut him off with a scoff.

"You couldn't see a dragon if it was balancing plates out here what with the mist and all."

"Why would a dragon be balancing plates?" James asked as they walked on. His shoes squelched wetly with every step and his socks were soaked through and his glasses were all fogged up and his jumper was becoming damp. James did not like this.

"For the championship, obviously." Lily stated. She seemed quite unbothered by the cold and wet conditions around her.

James frowned. He was cold and grumpy. It was not a good combination. "Lily." He whined. "We have work to do." He reminded her. She had just as much, if not more, on her plate.

"Exactly." Lily said and started walking backward so she could watch him. "We have so much to do. But I can't do anymore, James. Because if I do anymore, then I'll spontaneously combust and I'll take down half of Hogwarts with me."

"Maybe we should do that near the Slytherin common room then." James said with the hint of a smile. Lily grinned and shoved him playfully. Even when he was cold and grumpy, James loved that he could get Lily to laugh. Her shock of red hair was the only spot of color in the otherwise grey surroundings and her snorting laughter was the only sound in the otherwise silent grounds. It echoed, strangely empty as it faded away. Lily tugged at his hand again and they walked on, their fingers intertwining and loosening and intertwining again. James wiped his glasses and put them back on and he saw the evil grin on his girlfriend's face.

"Lily-" he began but she started running, dragging him along with her. She leaped and landed in a puddle, splashing water everywhere. James gasped at the sudden feeling of cold water and then he laughed, unbound and infinite. He leaped into the next puddle, kicking up water and wetting them. Lily shrieked and leaped into the shallow pool of water beside him. All of a sudden, there was noise and laughter and color everywhere. As it got progressively darker, they laughed up to the high heavens, kicking up water and mud and daring each other to leap higher and farther.

By the time the castle lights went out, they were drenched and hysterical with laughter. They stood leaning against a tree, exhausted and spent. The lake in front of them was obscured by the fog and looked ethereal. As James grinned down at Lily, he realized that all he wanted was to stand under this tree with her and never, ever go to sleep.


	3. Peace and Chaos

Peace and Chaos

The only sound in the corridor was the crackling flames of the torches in their brackets. Their light was ebbing and flowing intermittently and as the flames danced, the shadows on the walls writhed. The snow had all but melted and spring was arriving slowly.

Through the window Lily could just make out the outline of trees and Hagrid's hut in the distance. The sun had set and the sky looked like someone had spilled a bottle of ink.

Lily's arms were wound around James's neck and her head rested on his chest, a little above his heart. She could hear it's reassuring thud-thudding as her fingers played idly with the hair at the nape of his neck. James's thin and wiry form was comfort of the sweetest kind; she was achingly familiar with every dip and contour of it. She breathed in his familiar scent and it felt like peace. James pulled her closer by the waist and buried his head at the crook of her neck. Lily could feel his hot breath stirring her hair and shivered involuntarily. James started swaying slowly and Lily swayed with him. She hummed quietly.

"Can't you see

I love you

Please don't break my heart in two

That's not hard to do

'Cause I don't have a wooden heart."

Lily's father had always played that song around the house because, 'that song always made you smile your toothless smile' he'd explained. As a little kid, Lily's father had waltzed around the living room with her standing on his feet. He had been so graceful. Her mother had had two left feet, though. The number of vases she'd broken was astounding. She always insisted on buying replacements.

Lily no longer cried every time she thought about her parents. Now, she smiled at all the memories she had of theirs.

James kissed her temple and kept swaying. And maybe James knew when she needed peace and when the chaos made her feel alive. Maybe he didn't. But he got it right every damn time.

In the quiet of the corridor, a nasty meow encroached. Lily whirled around as James looked up and there she was, Mrs Norris. Her face ugly and squashed like someone had thrown her against a wall. Lily wished it had been her.

James cursed softly, grabbed Lily's hand and started running.

"James." Lily gasped as he pulled her behind him.

"Filch'll be here any second, Lily." Lily tried to wrench her hand from his grasp.

"James." She hissed.

"They can't have gone far, my sweet. We'll find the hooligans." They heard Filch's rasping excuse for a voice just as they turned a corner and whipped out of his sight. The castle was silent as it observed the chase. Their footsteps were muffled but managed to echo eerily.

"James." She tried again but he put on an extra burst of speed that almost made her trip.

"And he'll just walk around talking about hanging us from our ankles and whatnot and he might actually do it." James continued as they turned down a corridor and rounded the corner. "He seemed quite mad after our last encounter. Now admittedly, I had just transfigured every piece of furniture in his room into grinning pumpkins but it was just some festive cheer, really." James yanked open the doors of a broom closet and tugged her inside, shutting the door securely. He put his ear against it and listened.

"James, you utter prat." Lily said flicking his ear.

"Ow. What?" he demanded, rubbing his ear.

"We're the Head students. Our curfew isn't for another half hour." Lily watched as realization dawned on James. Even in the near darkness she could see the blush creeping up his cheeks.

"Oops." He whispered with a little cringe.

A laugh burst out of Lily without her consent. James knew when she needed the peace and he knew when the chaos made her feel alive. Lily had never loved James more.

She fisted a hand in his shirt and pulled him close. "Since we're in a broom closet anyway…"


End file.
